Sunday, March 11, 2012

Pickled Shallots

Shallots are one the Alliums that I don't tend to use very often - unless I'm making a Béarnaise or perhaps a red wine sauce. I do enjoy their milder onion flavour and I love the crunch of deep fried shallots but that's not quite a good enough reason to buy them more frequently. Though, I think this recipe will be changing that.

I was skimming through the pages of Mr Wilkinson's Favourite Vegetables by Matt Wilkinson when I came upon a recipe for pickled shallots and while the ingredients were interesting, I was most attracted by the fact that this is a quick pickle, only needing a few hours to cure. I have fiddled a little with the recipe but I think it stays true to the original.

As this cures so quickly there's no need to make lashings of pickle - this quantity of liquid is enough for 3 or 4 shallots (depending on size) and will fill a 250ml jar.

Place the vinegars, water, sugar and a good pinch of sea salt into a pot and simmer over a medium heat - stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it bubble away for a few minutes to reduce slightly.

Put the sliced shallots into a heat proof bowl and pour over with the hot syrup. Stir briefly and then cover loosely and allow to cool.

When cooled place the shallots and the pickling liquid into a jar and seal - keep in the fridge. If you can stop yourself from eating these all at once, they should keep for about a week.

This is a pretty delicious pickling liquid and I've already experimented with pickling finely sliced beetroot and carrots and had great success. These pickle shallots found themselves a good home in these cuttlefish bocadillos.